


Two Worlds Collide

by darcyalex



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: F/M, Family, Halloween, Heartbreak, I'm so sorry, Ten Years Later, but also very relevent, heartbreak everywhere, very unoriginal title, wattpad prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:21:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27227236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darcyalex/pseuds/darcyalex
Summary: “It seemed so unfair. They were supposed to have so much more time.”He’s been looking for her everywhere, but she hasn’t come. Can he bring her to him on the one night of the year the dead can supposedly walk among the living?A one-shot written for a Halloween contest prompt: "From the perspective of either the dead OR the living, tell a story of a pair of lovers between worlds, who are anxious to see one another again."
Relationships: Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 20
Kudos: 115





	Two Worlds Collide

It was pouring rain when Luke arrived at the house late in the afternoon. He went in the house, dropped off his sleeping girl with a brief hello to Ray, then went down to the studio.

When Luke opened the doors, the dust blew straight to him like fire looking for oxygen. It had only been a few months since he'd been down here, but he was clearly the last one to do so.

He stood just inside the door, his clothes dripping a pool of water onto the concrete, and looked around the room.

The piano was still covered in its protective sheet, and their instruments were tucked away up in the loft. Luke removed his soaking jacket and allowed himself to be wrapped in the memories he had in this room with Julie.

Sitting on the couch, Luke remembered the lazy Sundays they spent lying together, writing music and planning their future.

-

"What do you think of this?" Julie said, then sung out a new lyric.

She was lying across the couch with her head in his lap, her big, dark curls spread across his legs. Luke had a leg propped up on the table and his notebook leaning against his knee.

"Not one of your best," Luke said sarcastically.

Julie sat up and turned to face him. "Alright, and what have you come up with?"

Luke looked at his notebook and his heart began to race. He wanted the song to be finished, to be perfect, but he realised it didn't matter. He loved Julie and now felt like the perfect time.

He handed her the notebook and watched her face as he dug into his pocket.

When she looked up, her eyes were watery, and then when she saw the ring Luke was presenting to her, she put a hand to her face as she started to cry.

"Julie," was all he managed to say before she interrupted.

"Yes," she said quickly. "Yes, yes, yes." Leaning towards him, Julie took Luke's face in her hands and kissed him fiercely.

-

He looked back to the doorway, the exact spot they'd gotten married not so long ago.

Luke stood up and walked over to the piano where he pulled back the white sheet. He sat down and opened the lid before playing a few keys. It wasn't even out of tune.

Sitting at the piano was where Julie had collapsed for the first time. He didn't even have a chance to catch her, but after they found out she was sick, he always sat next to her when she played, ready to catch her if it happened again.

It seemed so unfair. It had only been ten years since the miracle that had brought him back, and it wasn't enough. They were supposed to have so much more time.

Luke looked up at the chairs still floating on the ceiling. Maybe she's a witch, he heard Reggie say in his head. The memory made him smile.

Every Halloween since they'd met, Julie had dressed up as a witch, just to mess with Reggie. Oh, how he wished she was here, putting on that costume tonight.

Pulling his guitar down from the loft, Luke opened the case with shaking hands. He hadn't touched it in so long, he wondered if he would still be able to play.

Just after sunset, Luke put the strap over his shoulder and put the guitar in tune.

"Please let this work," he said, looking up at nothing.

He started to play, the chords coming to him like second nature. He played the first thing that came to his head—his solo in 'Great'. It had brought her back to him once before, when he thought he'd lost his connection to her, maybe it could do it again.

-

In the days after Julie left, he'd looked everywhere for her.

They had been connected so deeply when he was dead that she could see him, and his greatest hope was that he'd be able to see her now. But she never came.

"Where are you?" he yelled to the empty studio after a week of searching for her. "If you're here, if you can hear me, Julie I need you. I can't do this without you."

Tears streamed down his face as he collapsed to his knees. When he felt a hand on his shoulder, he looked up with hope, but found Alex and Reggie instead.

"We know how badly you want to see her," Alex said sadly. "We miss her, too."

Then Reggie said, "But maybe she's moved on. Maybe she didn't have any unfinished business."

Luke got to his feet. "She can't be gone, I need her. How am I supposed to do this? I'm alone and I can't do this without her," he said again and he broke into sobs.

Alex pulled him into a tight, reassuring hug and let Luke cry. "You're not alone."

"We always have each other," Reggie added, putting his arms around the two of them.

-

It was Ray who had suggested he come out here tonight, and it was the only idea Luke had left. If he couldn't communicate with her on Halloween, then maybe Julie really was gone.

As he kept playing, kept waiting and hoping, he didn't see her anywhere. Eventually Luke stopped playing, ready to give up, and was pulling his guitar strap over his head when he heard it—one singular note played on the piano across the room.

At first he thought he imagined it, but then another note played. Luke put his guitar back on and started to match the notes. They got quicker and stronger and so did his playing.

"I believe, I believe," he began to sing, hoping it would help. As he sung, he thought he could see a flicker, but it was faint.

Then, as he sung the last line, she faded into view until he could see her perfectly. "'Cause we're standing on the edge... of... great." They finished playing the notes together and stared at each other for a moment. Then she smiled.

Luke walked straight for her, and she met him part way, where their lips collided.

"I didn't think it would work," she said through tears.

"Neither did I," he said, wiping her cheek with his thumb. He brought their lips together again, never wanting to let go of the way it felt to be kissing her after all these months.

"Luke, are you here?" they heard Ray call out. Luke turned to the doorway. "I'm sorry but she's awake and I can't get her to settle." Ray walked in holding an umbrella, with the little girl in his other arm.

Then Ray took in a sharp breath. "It worked," he said, looking between Luke and Julie.

Luke smiled. "Yeah."

"Rose?" Julie said, walking to her father, her eyes fixed on the baby in his arms. Ray handed her to Julie. "She's gotten so big."

Ray had tears in his eyes. "I've missed you so much, mija."

"Me too," Julie told him. "But I'm always around, I'm always here." She smiled reassuringly at him.

Ray pulled Julie close and kissed her forehead. "I'll leave you to it," he said. "I love you, sweetheart."

Ray took one last look at his beautiful girl and left. He had learned to move on a long time ago, and as much as he would treasure one last opportunity to see his daughter again, he knew he couldn't stay, or his heart may never heal. Luke was the one who needed this chance to see her again.

Julie said goodbye and sat on the couch with her daughter in her arms. Luke sat beside her and put his arm around her. This was how it was supposed to be, their little family, sitting together in the studio, singing music to their little miracle.

When Julie had gotten sick, Luke didn't even think about kids, but it was all Julie had ever wanted—to be a mum. They hadn't planned it, and it was risky with Julie so sick, but they were so lucky to have one last miracle before she'd had to leave them.

"Your dad has been very bad," Julie said to baby Rose. "He's supposed to be playing music to you."

Luke gave her a guilty look. "I'm sorry, it's been so hard. Even to come out here."

"I know," Julie said, looking at him. "But music is the only thing I had to leave behind, for the both of you. I don't want you to ever lose that."

"No music is worth making..." Luke started to say.

"Yes it is," Julie interrupted. "It is with her. Teach her, show her what we made together. I nearly lost it after my mum died, and if it wasn't for you, I may never have gotten it back. I never would have been the same. So, please, don't lose your music."

Luke played with a single curl of her hair in his hand. Playing music without Julie had felt hopeless for so long. He watched Rose smile as Julie bounced her on her knee and he knew his wife was right, he needed to hold onto music so he could pass it on to their daughter.

The three of them spent all night together, playing music to the backdrop of pouring rain and rolling thunder.

The storm passed just before daybreak. Rose was asleep on the couch next to Luke, who was playing guitar while Julie sat and played at the piano.

When they saw light start to filter in, Luke realised what it meant and he looked to Julie. "I'm not ready," he whispered.

He put the guitar down and stood up, and Julie put her hands in his in the middle of the room.

"I know," Julie whispered back. She looked through the window where the sky was beginning to filter orange. "Something's different," she told him curiously.

His grip on her hands tightened a little when Julie took a sharp intake of breath.

Turning back to Luke, she said, "I can hear my mum, she's singing to me."

Luke eyebrows creased together. "What does that mean?"

"I think this is it," Julie said, turning back and forth between Luke and the window until her eyes settled on him. "I don't think I can stay here anymore."

"No," Luke said, shaking his head as he held back tears. "You can't go, not now."

Julie took his face in her hands. "It's okay. You're gonna be okay." She looked to the couch where Rose was still sleeping, then back to her love. "I'll still be watching over you, I promise."

He rested his forehead on hers as he tried to hold back his tears.

"Will you do one last thing for me?" Julie whispered.

"Anything, Julie, you know that," he said, for what he realised would be the last time.

"Sing for me."

After taking a deep breath, Luke sang the first thing he could think of. "Step into my world, bitter sweet love story 'bout a girl."

Julie smiled through her tears as he sung to her, and when it was her turn to join him, he took her in his arms and danced around the studio with her.

"Two worlds collide when I'm with you."

That's what they'd always been, Luke realised. Two worlds colliding, but never destined to stay together. So he committed every moment of this dance to memory as they continued to sing.

"You're more to me," Julie sung as Luke wrapped his arms around her one last time.

"We create," he sung back to her.

"The perfect harmony."

He spun her away from him and watched as the sunlight broke through the window and consumed her.

Then she was gone.

**Author's Note:**

> I had an idea like this bouncing around my head for a while, so I'm glad I was able to finally get it down, even if I had to put a lot of tears into it. Don't come for me, drama and tragedy are what I do best.


End file.
